Columbia Seeking Bids

Special to The New York Times

Published: October 5, 1990

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4—
Three weeks after Federal regulators blocked an earlier deal by the Columbia Savings and Loan Association to sell its $3 billion worth of high-yield ''junk bonds,'' the savings institution said on Wednesday that it was soliciting a new round of bids for the portfolio, this time under terms more acceptable to the Government.

Columbia, which is struggling to avert being seized by Federal regulators, said it would continue to accept bids that would rely on financing from Columbia, as the previous deal did. But the institution said it was also hoping for all-cash bids and proposals that would allow the institution to share in any future appreciation in the portfolio's value.

Last month, the Office of Thrift Supervision rejected Columbia's plan to sell the portfolio to a Canadian investment firm, saying it ''could not be confident'' the institution had received the best possible price.

Edward G. Harshfield, Columbia's chairman, said the institution would work with bidders and regulators to tailor any transaction to specifications being developed by the Government for the sale of financial assets by insolvent or failing savings institutions.

Columbia and its former management, headed by Thomas Spiegel, are under Federal criminal investigation relating to the institution's financial troubles. Columbia was among the largest purchasers of junk bonds from Michael R. Milken, former head of the junk bond department at Drexel Burnham Lambert.